Copyright-copying images to website??

Question

My mom is creating her own movie review/gossip site and had a question as to whether or not there are any public domain image/photo sites out there that we can use to copy celebrity pictures from. If not, what is the cheapest archive (I know Getty and Wireimage are pretty costly but are there others?)

And the last question...as far as the movie review portion goes, can we just copy and paste movie poster logos (such as the Dark Knight main poster image) or would that be infringing on copy right issues?

Or where should I go to get those images?

Thank u so much for your answers!!!!!!

Answer 1

Unless an image is tagged with a copyright logo, the images are not technically copyrighted by these websites.  Also look in the terms of use on that website, and see if it says anything like "Images on this site are only for use by _____ and people given permission by the admins"

Answer 2

Sounds ok, i do know uploading video's and audio downloaded from torrent sites is illegal, they ban you on youtube for it.

Answer 3

Technically if you are copying and pasting from other websites you may be violating copyright. However, since what it sounds like your mom is doing is essentially a fan site, chances are she can get away with it. It's sort of a gray area of usage, but since she is not intending to make money off the site or sell any of the images, it's frowned on but usually allowed.

Best bet is for any image she knows is trademarked or copyrighted (such as the Batman/Dark Knight logo), she should put a disclaimer that those images are trademarked by the appropriate companies (she should state the ownership) and that no infringement is intended. Granted, if the companies that own those trademarks wanted to sue her, such a statement doesn't really protect her, because she doesn't have formal permission or licensing to use those trademarked images, but given that sites such as what she is intending to do generally help, if anything, rather than hurt the trademark owners, it is unlikely they would do anything. And usually you would get a "Cease and desist" legal notice/letter before any action was taken.

Answer 4

This is tricky. Under most circumstances if you are writing a legitimate review or critique of a work of art, you can legally include a photo, logo, image, etc. that relates to the original work. It's not a clear cut when it comes to images of people. It's not so much that you can't include a photo of the person - it's that someone probably owns the rights to that photo and you can't use it without their permission, or more likely, paying them a fee. If a studio releases photos of actors or scenes from a movie specifically for journalists and writers, then by all means you can use it. But going to a website and grabbing something is most certainly going to be a copyright violation.

I can pretty much assure you there aren't many public domain photos of any current celebrities. Probably none.

You might try contacting the publicists and PR firms hired by the actors and studios to see if you can get on their list of recipients of publicity stills. You might have a tough time convincing them you're legitimate, since you're just starting out, but who knows? It might work.

If this is something your mom is serious about and hopes to be able to make money from, you really should consult with a lawyer. If it's just a hobby, then do what your conscience allows and be ready at a moment's notice to take something down as soon as someone complains...and hope this is enough to satisfy them! Everybody loves filing lawsuits these days.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Regarding copyright law and such, if you claim the images as your own creation, you are indeed infringing on the copyright.  If you give full credit to the image and where you ‘copied’ it from, you are pretty much safe.

There are a lot of fine lines when it comes to copyright laws.  Certain material that you would consider as copyrighted is actual considered public domain in the eyes of the law.  

I would do a little research on the subject myself, before asking people who are definitely posing as armchair attorneys.